Mellel vs Ulysses

Mellel

• Academics and students writing theses, papers and books on a Mac
• Long, structured documents with many notes and cross-references
• Writers mixing Hebrew, Arabic or Syriac with other languages
• Bookends users who want citations formatted as they write

Ulysses

• Writers who work only on Apple devices and want their texts on all of them
• Bloggers publishing to WordPress, Ghost or Micro.blog
• Novelists and students keeping many texts in one library

Mellel

• Mac and iPad only: there is no Windows, Android or web version.
• A license covers two years of free updates; later versions need a paid upgrade, listed at $44 on the store page.
• Mellel Mobile runs on iPad only, lacks some editing options of the Mac version, and needs Premium for bibliography scanning.
• Citations and bibliographies rely on Bookends, a separate reference manager that is sold with Mellel as a $114.99 bundle.

Ulysses

• The site and App Store listing cover Mac, iPad and iPhone only; no Windows, Android or web version is offered.
• The pricing page lists subscriptions only: $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year once the trial ends.
• The trial is described as fully functional, but the site does not say how many days it runs.
• Volume licenses are priced in euros and cover one Mac, one iPad and one iPhone per user.

Mellel

Auto-titles and outline

Automatically formatted headings and captions define a document's structure on several levels. The outline gives an overview for jumping to any part and rearranging it.

Footnotes and endnotes

Supports an unlimited number of footnote and endnote streams, with endnotes placed at the end of the document, chapter, section or any combination of these.

Bibliography with Bookends

Integration with the Bookends reference manager updates citations and the bibliography as you write, with one bibliography for the document, one per chapter, or both.

Styles and style sets

Styles apply to characters, paragraphs, pages, notes, sections, tables and lists, and are grouped into style sets that can be reused in other documents.

Multilingual and right-to-left text

Mixes languages, scripts and writing directions within one document, paragraph or sentence, with right-to-left support for Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac.

Import and export

Opens Word (docx), RTF, OPML and plain-text files, and exports to PDF, Word (docx), RTF, OPML and ePUB.

Ulysses

Markup-based editor

Text is formatted by typing markup in Markdown XL, Ulysses' own markup language, so headings, lists and emphasis never require leaving the keyboard.

Unified library

Everything is stored in one library and organized into projects, so scenes and chapters can be split into chunks and reordered.

Sync across Apple devices

Texts sync automatically between Mac, iPad and iPhone, and the vendor describes feature parity across macOS and iOS.

Grammar and style check

A built-in proofreader for more than 20 languages suggests fixes for capitalization, punctuation, semantics, redundancy and style.

Export and publishing

Exports PDFs, Word documents, ebooks and HTML with switchable styles, and posts directly to WordPress, Ghost and Micro.blog with images and tags.

Writing goals

Set a character limit, a deadline or a daily goal for a text and track progress against it.

Mellel

• Mellel Mobile$0

  Free iPad app with in-app purchases: Standard at $29.99 and Premium at $9.99 on the US App Store, which does not show their billing basis.

• Mellel for Mac$69.99

  one-time license

  Personal license for up to 5 computers that never expires, with two years of free updates. The vendor's store page rounds the price to $69.

• Mellel + Bookends Bundle$114.99

  one-time purchase

  Mellel for Mac together with the Bookends reference manager, against $144.98 when the two are bought separately.

Ulysses

• Yearly Plan$39.99

  per year

  Ulysses on all your Macs, iPads and iPhones with full sync. Apple Family Sharing with up to five other family members is included.

• Monthly Plan$5.99

  per month

  The same app and sync on every Mac, iPad and iPhone, paid month to month.

• Volume licensing€39.00

  per user / year, plus VAT if applicable

  Licenses for businesses and organizations, bought outside the App Store. Covers one Mac, one iPad and one iPhone per user.

Mellel

• Other savings

  Upgrade from any older license for $44

  The store lists a $44 upgrade to the latest version for holders of any Mellel license, however old, with two more years of free updates.

• Other savings

  Mellel + Bookends bundle

  A license for both Mellel and the Bookends reference manager costs $114.99, instead of $144.98 when each is bought separately.

• Other savings

  Crossgrade price for Nisus users

  Nisus users are offered a Mellel for Mac license at a discounted $51.75, with two years of free updates.

Ulysses

• Annual discount

  Yearly plan costs about 44% less than monthly

  The yearly subscription is $39.99, against $71.88 for twelve payments on the $5.99 monthly plan.

• Education

  Student offer: $10.99 per 6 months

  Students enrolled at a high school, vocational school, college or university can apply from inside the app with a valid student ID.

• Other savings

  Apple Family Sharing included

  One subscription can be shared with up to five other family members through Apple Family Sharing.

• Lifetime license

  Perpetual License listed in the App Store

  The US App Store listing shows a Perpetual License in-app purchase at $199.99 alongside the subscriptions. The pricing page does not describe its terms.